In June, David Lee Simpson tweeted that he was going to tie Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell to a “tree naked and leave them to suffer all night,” then “slit their throats.” The 48-year-old was said to have been obsessed with Jodi Arias and was enraged by comments Grace and Velez-Mitchell made about the now convicted murderer.
The two news anchors were in Phoenix, Arizona covering the Arias trial when the threats were levied. Simpson was also said to have made threats against an unidentified Phoenix woman who told him that she didn’t like his tweets.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona’s Maricopa County began investigating Simpson after he was notified of the remarks. A deputy was sent to New York state and the comments were tracked back to Simpson of Bath, New York.
Arpaio asked local officials to keep an eye on the situation and it was discovered that Simpson had quit his job at an area auto-repair shop and was allegedly “headed south” to exact his revenge.
Simpson was subsequently pulled over by a Bath Police Department investigator. A search of his vehicle turned up at least two guns, ammunition, handcuffs, zip ties, a knife and a police radio. Arpaio said:
“This suspect was on his way south with enough weapons in his car to do serious harm to someone. Fortunately, we acted quickly enough, and in doing so, were able to stop him before anything could transpire.”
A grand jury has indicted Simpson on 5 felony charges, three for computer tampering and two for stalking.
Mug Shot: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
